Praful

Praful (English pronunciation: /prəˈfʊl/ prə-FUUL) (Düsseldorf, Germany, (1964-01-01)January 1, 1964) is the pseudonym of Ulrich Schröder, an acid jazz artist who performs on several instruments including tenor and soprano saxophones, Indian bamboo flutes, pandeiros, Fender Rhodes and many electronic effects. Two of his CDs One Day Deep and Pyramid in Your Backyard have won many awards and worldwide recognition. "Sigh", included in the One Day Deep CD and as a single, had stayed in the Billboards for over 70 weeks.

Praful's songs show a wide variety of rhythm and roots. On One Day Deep, "Sonhar" features a fast Indian dance rhythm. On the same CD, "Let the Chips Fall" reveals a relaxing acid jazz rhythm. He lives near Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Biography

Early life

As a young child he learned the recorder, flute and electronic organ. Frustrated when his mother would not let him carry the electronic organ with him to gigs around town he vowed never to play the instrument again, instead switching to piano and synthesizers. He switched to the saxophone at age 18. His first bands were

Erik Satie

Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (French: [eʁik sati]; 17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925) – he signed his name Erik Satie after 1884 – was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, Surrealism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd.

An eccentric, Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures sounds"), preferring this designation to that of "musician", after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.

In addition to his body of music, Satie was "a thinker with a gift of eloquence" who left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American culture chronicle Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on publishing his work under his own name, in the late 19th century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings.